Water garden enthusiasts have something to be excited about: A purple-blooming water lily that can survive the winter right here in Lawrence. The new lily, Nymphaea “Purple Fantasy,” has been growing at Denver Botanic Gardens since 2013 and was released to the public earlier this year. Water’s Edge, 847 Indiana St., has one that began blooming in late June.

A cold-hardy purple water lily is something that plant hybridizers previously thought was impossible. There are a number of purple and blue water lilies on the market, but they are tropical species preferring temperatures above 70 degrees F. There are also a number of cold-hardy water lilies, but their colors are limited to various shades of white, light pink or salmon, and yellow.

Nymphaea “Purple Fantasy” water lily

Tropical water lilies and hardy water lilies are in the same family, but are hybrids of various genera and species within the family. Plants within the same species can usually be easily crossed, but inter-specific and inter-generic crosses are more complicated. Previous attempts at crossing tropical purple and blue water lilies with cold-hardy water lilies were unsuccessful.

Florida Aquatic Nurseries finally found compatible plants in the creation of Purple Fantasy, which has a hardy mother and a tropical father. The patent is pending on the plant, and the nursery believes they may have additional hardy purple-blooming varieties in the future as well as various other unique water lilies.

Besides the color of the blooms, Purple Fantasy holds a few attributes that are more common with tropical water lilies than with hardy varieties. First, most hardy water lilies open their blossoms from late morning to late afternoon. Tropical water lilies are classified as day bloomers or night bloomers, with day bloomers opening their flowers from mid-morning to late evening and night bloomers opening their flowers from evening to mid-morning. Purple Fantasy is reportedly holding its blossoms open like a day-blooming tropical water lily.

Tropical water lilies also hold their blossoms several inches above the surface of the water while hardy water lilies tend to bloom right at the waters’ surface. Purple Fantasy is holding its flowers up out of the water like a tropical lily.

The final difference between tropical and hardy water lilies is in the edges of the leaves (sometimes called pads). Tropical water lily leaves have serrated edges, giving them a little more flair than the smooth edges of the leaves of hardy water lilies. Purple Fantasy’s leaves have smooth edges like a hardy water lily.

Purple Fantasy is already out-of-stock at major water plant retailers but hopefully will be more widely available next year. It retailed at $125 and up this spring because of the limited supply.

Purple Fantasy won best in its class and second best overall at the International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society’s (IWGS) New Waterlily Competition in 2013.

— Jennifer Smith is a former horticulture extension agent for K-State Research and Extension and horticulturist for Lawrence Parks and Recreation. She is the host of “The Garden Show” and has been a gardener since childhood. Send your gardening questions and feedback to features@ljworld.com.